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JLPT N4 · Noun / adverb

大体 (daitai)

大体 (だいたい, daitai) is a Japanese noun / adverb meaning “generally; on the whole”. It is usually written in kana. It appears in JLPT N4 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading
だいたい
Romaji
daitai
Word class
Noun / adverb
Level
JLPT N4 (unofficial)

Meaning

  1. generally; on the whole; mostly; almost; nearly · adverb · usually written in kana
  2. general; rough · noun taking の · usually written in kana
  3. outline; main points; gist; substance; essence · noun · usually written in kana
  4. in the first place; first and foremost; from the start; to begin with · adverb · usually written in kana

Example sentences

仕事はだいたい終わった。
The work is mostly done.
Tatoeba #169114
だいたいどのくらいの時間がかかりますか。
About how long will it take?
Tatoeba #203976
だいたいあんた、この寒いのにノースリーブで何いってんのよ。
Anyway what are you on about? Going around sleeveless in this cold.
Tatoeba #76588

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Kanji in 大体

大
large, bigダイ・タイ・おお-・おお.きい · 3 strokes
体
body, substance, objectタイ・テイ・からだ・かたち · 7 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 大体.

大勢おおぜいcrowd of people大人おとなadult大学だいがくuniversity大切たいせつimportant大変たいへんvery大きいおおきいbig大きなおおきなbig大使館たいしかんembassy大丈夫だいじょうぶsafe大好きだいすきliking very much大抵たいていmostly大事だいじimportant大分だいぶconsiderably大学生だいがくせいuniversity student

Source: JMdict entry 1414470 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.